“Never seen anything like this”: Expert says Bragg’s Jordan lawsuit reveals “effort to intimidate”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday sued House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, alleging a “brazen and unconstitutional attack” on his prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

Trump was charged last week with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records in Bragg’s investigation into hush-money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Ahead of Trump’s formal arraignment last week, Jordan launched a counter-investigation into Bragg’s probe and now plans to travel to New York City to hold a field hearing called “Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan” on April 17. 

Bragg filed a 50-page suit over the “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” him in an effort to prevent House Republicans from meddling in his case.

“Rather than allowing the criminal process to proceed in the ordinary course, Chairman Jordan and the committee are participating in a campaign of intimidation, retaliation and obstruction,” the suit said, adding that Bragg has received a litany of calls and emails from fervent Trump supporters, “many of which are threatening and racially charged.”

The New York Times reported that Bragg’s attorneys are also hoping to stave off the enforcement of subpoenas by Jordan, including a subpoena he sent to Mark Pomerantz — who was once involved in the district attorney’s investigation into Trump — shortly after prosecutors revealed the 34 felony counts brought against the ex-president. 

Jordan responded to news of the suit on Twitter. 

“First, they indict a president for no crime,” he wrote. “Then, they sue to block congressional oversight when we ask questions about the federal funds they say they used to do it.”

---

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

---

Bragg’s office has indicated that it spent around $5,000 in federal funds on investigations into Trump and his company between 2019 and 2021, with the bulk of it on litigation related to a legal feud with Trump over his tax returns. In a Tuesday statement, Bragg called the subpoena to Pomerantz “an unconstitutional attempt to undermine an ongoing New York felony criminal prosecution and investigation.” 

Karen Friedman Agnifilo, the former chief assistant district attorney at the Manhattan D.A.’s office, told CNN that she had “never seen anything like this before.”

“D.A. Bragg, in this 50-page legal filing that was filed today, he sets out a campaign of interference and intimidation. Because… Rep. Jim Jordan is trying to say, yes, it’s because of these $5,000 in federal funds and that you claim that you have oversight over that,” she explained.

“But really, what Alvin Bragg sets out with, including all the tweets by the former president, as well as Jim Jordan and others — he also included the photo of the baseball bat near his, near Alvin Bragg’s head,” Agnifilo continued. “He talks about the racial — the racial slurs, the dog whistles, and also that, as a result of this campaign of intimidation by Jim Jordan and others and Trump that has been coordinated, that Alvin Bragg has gotten over 1,000 threats since then, including white powder in his office, really hateful racial slurs that have been directed at him and others.”

“So he’s really made, I think, an excellent case that this is an effort to intimidate him into not prosecuting,” she added, “versus legitimate legislative oversight.”